How To Make A Dopero Kite

Complete Instructions For The MBK 1-Skewer Dopero

This set of instructions on how to make a Dopero kite assumes you know absolutely nothing about kite making.

You might already have some of the simple tools and materials required. Anything you don't have is easily bought. If not exactly what I used, then at least something pretty similar!

These instructions on how to make a Dopero kite might look a bit long, but that's because they are so detailed. Just steadily work your way through from top to bottom, skimming over any detail that you don't need.

At 29cm (11 1/2") wide, the MBK 1-Skewer Dopero Kite is a rather small kite, with tip dihedral and a 4-leg bridle.

Apart from its size, this Dopero looks very much like the huge expensive ones!

Now, just in case you have actually made and flown this kite at least once already...

Ever Made This Kite?

You've probably read a kite-flying story or 2 of mine, since they get published all the time on this site. I sometimes wonder if anyone else has made and flown this particular design...

How did your last outing go? Even if it wasn't so great, hey, post something here anyway. I'll see what I can suggest :-) Later on, you might even get a comment from someone else who has made the same kite!

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Sail

Now's the time to read up on the 'tools' and materials required for making a Skewer kite, if you haven't already.

The template shown above represents one side of the kite sail. You will now transfer these measurements to the sail plastic as follows...

• Firstly, take a light plastic bag that will fit the entire Template shape within one side, and lay it flat on the floor.
• Mark dots on the plastic, corresponding to the corners of the Template. There is no need to use a T-square, since any small error will be duplicated on the other side of the sail.
• Using the marking pen, rule lines between the dots, as in the photo.

• Flip the plastic bag over, and trace over all the black lines using your marker pen and ruler.
• Cut out a rectangular section of the bag containing the kite sail, open it out and lay it flat on the floor - you can now see the complete sail outline, as in the photo.
• Cut along the black lines with scissors, to create the sail.

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Spars

For this Dopero, you need four 30cm (12") bamboo BBQ skewers for the spars. The photo shows all the spars laid over the sail, before being snipped to length with scissors.

• Lay down 2 skewers vertically over the plastic, lined up as in the photo. Snip the bottom end of each skewer to length, so they line up with the bottom edge of the lower sail. These are the vertical spars.
• Lay down another skewer across the left and right corners of the upper sail, and snip to length, removing the point. Also make an easily-seen mark on the skewer, at each point where it crosses a vertical spar. This is the upper horizontal spar.
• Using a sharp corner, perhaps a blade of the scissors, make an indent in the bamboo, at the crossing-points you marked.
• Do those last 2 steps again, over the widest part of the lower sail, to create the lower horizontal spar.

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Attaching Sail

• Lay down the vertical spars over the sail, and wrap a short length of clear sticky tape around each tip, securing them to the top corners of the upper sail and the bottom corners of the lower sail. The top photo shows the top tip in close-up.
• Lay down the upper horizontal spar skewer and attach its tips to the upper left and right corners of the sail, in the same way.
• Lay down the lower horizontal spar skewer and attach its tips to the left and right corners of the lower sail.
• Fold down the flaps over the lower horizontal spar, and secure with short strips of tape on each side. In the middle photo, I have drawn yellow rectangles to show where the tape goes.
• Bend the upper horizontal spar at an indent, until it starts to crack! Carefully increase the bend until the wing-tip stays at 0.08SL (2.3cm, 1") off the table top. Do the same for the other indent as well.
• Do exactly the same for the lower horizontal spar, cracking the bamboo at both indents.
• Dribble some wood glue all around where the skewers cross each other, for both horizontal spars. See the bottom photo. Use enough glue to make the bent part of the bamboo strong.

Be careful that the horizontal spars don't slip up or down the vertical spar while the glue is still wet.

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Sail Tethers

• Cut off a piece of flying line of length 0.75SL (22cm, 8"). Tape one end to a corner of the upper sail, as in the photo. See how the tape points to the tip of the lower horizontal spar. Excess tape can be trimmed with scissors or folded back on itself.
• Pass the other end of the line around the tip of the lower horizontal spar. Pull most of the slack out and tie off with a couple of Half Hitch knots. Using the Half Hitch makes them easy to un-pick and re-tie later, if any adjustment is needed to make the kite fly straight.
• Repeat the previous steps on the other side of the kite.
• Snip off some of the excess line if you want to, but leave enough for adjustment purposes.

The kite should now look like the photo.

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Keels

• Mark out a keel shape on some spare plastic, as per the dimensions on the template. For all the steps below, refer to the above photo if anything is unclear. A keel in black garbage bag plastic looks good with a lighter colored sail! If you lay black plastic against a window on a sunny day, even black marker lines show up easily, I've found. Rule the lines with the plastic flat against the window glass. You can also hold the plastic up to the light while cutting along the lines with scissors.
• Cut out the keel and tape down 2 lengths of flying line onto one side, using clear sticky tape. One goes from the bridle attachment point to the upper attachment point, and the other goes from the bridle attachment point to the lower attachment point. The pieces of line hanging free should be at least as long as your finger.
• Now flip the plastic over and tape down another 2 lengths of flying line, directly over the first 2.
• Where 2 pieces of line come together, tie a Multi-Strand Simple Knot close to the plastic. These 2 knots will sit against a vertical spar.
• Where the 4 pieces of line come together, tie them into another Multi-Strand Simple Knot close to the plastic, then tie another one further out. The photo on the right shows all the knots.

All done? Now do it all again to make the other keel!

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Attach The Keels

• Poke a hole in the lower sail, just below where the lower horizontal spar crosses one of the vertical spars.
• Take a keel, poke the upper 2 lines through the hole and pull tight against the knot, then tie them off around the bamboo.
• Use the keel itself to find the exact spot to poke the lower 2 lines through, near the bottom tip of the vertical spar. Poke a hole in the plastic there, thread the lines through and tie them off around the bamboo. As in the top photo.
• Flip the kite over, lay the keel down flat, and lay a length of sticky tape all along the base of the keel. Half the width on the keel, the other half on the lower sail plastic. See the bottom photo. Because of the dihedral, you might need to use something brick-shaped to support the kite while you do this.
• Now flip the keel over, so it lies flat again. Stick down the base with sticky tape. Now the keel is attached along its full length, on both sides.

All done? Now do it all again to attach the other keel!

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Attach The Bridle

• Lay the kite down with the keels on top, then cut off a length of flying line about 2 skewers long
• Tie a small Loop Knot into each end.
• Poke holes in the upper sail, and hence attach the line to the vertical spars as indicated in the top photo. Use a Double Wrap Slip Knot in each case. This is the upper bridle loop.
• Now make another bridle loop line. Again, about 2 skewer lengths long, with a Loop Knot in each end. Make these Loop Knots much bigger, because...
• Now attach each end of this line to a keel, using a Larks Head knot. This is the lower bridle loop. See the middle photo.
• Take another length of flying line about 2 skewers long, and attach one end to the middle of the upper bridle loop and the other end to the middle of the lower bridle loop, using a Prusik Knot at each end. Let's call this the bridle line.
• Now take a length of flying line about 1 skewer long, and tie one end to the bridle line with a Prusik Knot. Tie a small Loop Knot into the other end. There's the whole bridle, in the bottom photo.
• Secure every knot on the vertical spars with a tiny blob of wood glue. 6 in all!

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Tail

• Cut out a long thin rectangle of colored plastic for the tail. Mine is black, to contrast with the orange sail. Make it 10.0SL (290cm, 115") long and 0.2SL (5.8cm, 2 1/4") wide. Knot pieces together if necessary, to get the full length. Avoid taping, because it adds weight!
• Tie one end around one vertical spar, and the other end around the other vertical spar. Slip the plastic under the bamboo and between the keel knots, but as close as possible to the lower knot. A single Half Hitch will do, since there are very low forces on the tail in flight. Pull it fairly tight and trim off any excess plastic. See the photo for the final result.

At this point, you've finished making the 1-Skewer Dopero!

To attach the flying line, just Lark's Head the flying line to the short bridle line.

How To Make A Dopero Kite - Flying!

Before the first flight, you need to adjust the bridle...

Firstly, make sure the sliding knots on the upper and lower bridle loops are dead-center. An easy way to check this is to see if the kite hangs level, when you dangle it from the loop knot at the end of the bridle. Adjust both knots until everything looks square and level.

Secondly, make sure that the sliding knot on the central bridle line ends up between the upper horizontal spar and the top edge of the sail. Check this when the kite is laying on its back on the floor or table, with equal tension in all the bridle lines. Shift the knot if necessary, and hold up the bridle lines again to check. Repeat until it looks right.

If it's very windy outside, stay home! This is a light-to-moderate wind kite and won't like being launched in a gale.

Assuming there is some breeze outside, just dangle the kite at arm's length until the wind catches it. As long as you feel the kite pulling, let out line slowly by taking loop after loop off the winder.

Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go, on the end of maybe 10 or 20 meters (around 50 feet) of line. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.

The picture shows this latest version of the 1-Skewer Dopero struggling to climb away, in a light breeze near the end of the day. The tail is mostly hidden by the lower sail.

Have fun flying, and I hope you've enjoyed learning how to make a Dopero kite!

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